Last week was huge for international investors curious about India. Fools learned that India is taking the right steps toward becoming a more investor-friendly nation, thanks to a growth-oriented budget presented by the Indian finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, who leads the annual event that essentially determines the economic priorities of the upcoming year.
Details of the doc
Coming as welcome news to international investors, the 2011 budget focuses on measures taken to increase investment in the infrastructure and agricultural sectors.
In a prior article, I mentioned that infrastructure woes are one of the biggest challenges faced by foreign investors when it comes to investing in India. Well, this should come as good news: The government showed a keen sense of commitment to address this problem in this budget.
According to official estimates, India plans to spend $1 trillion over the next five years to improve its infrastructure. Now, compare that with the fact that India's total gross domestic product had crossed the $1 trillion mark only in April 2007. Or compare that with the $700 billion bailout package offered by the U.S. government to troubled financial institutions. You can see that the Indian government has ambitious plans ahead. U.S.-India Business Council President Ron Somers says, "The sheer confidence this budget represents is worthy of our praise." The USIBC, by the way, represents about 400 U.S. companies and seeks better commercial ties with India.
The nitty-gritty of the budget
To fund its infrastructure development, India plans to tap foreign funds by raising the foreign institutional investors cap in the infrastructure sector. The government has permitted Securities and Exchange Board of India (the Indian equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission) registered mutual funds to accept subscription from foreign investors for the equity scheme. And the good news is the FII limit for investment in corporate bonds issued by companies in the infrastructure sector is being raised from $5 billion to $25 billion. This is huge news.
The U.S.-India CEO forum had discussed a $10 billion debt fund to finance infrastructure during Obama's visit to India last November. Last week's budget reflected just that. That forum consists of key companies that can play a substantial role in the debt fund. Led by Honeywell (NYSE: HON), the forum includes financial behemoths Citigroup (NYSE: C) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM). One cannot and should not rule out their participation in these funds in the near future. It's worth noting that companies such as United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which are also part of the forum, have an already sizable presence in the country, which will likely only grow larger.
The real opportunities
So what are the names and ideas to capitalize on as part of this larger budget initiative?
As just one piece of this larger trend, one should pay special attention to the transportation sector. The movement of goods in ports, trains, and highways needs to speed up. The government realizes this as a top priority. The fixing of chronic shortages of electricity and improvement in urban infrastructure have been prioritized.
Road and rail network needs are huge. This is exactly where global infrastructure companies can come into play. AECOM Technology Corp. (NYSE: ACM) serves projects in key infrastructure areas such as highways, airports, bridges, and wastewater facilities and has a market value of about $3.5 billion. For the record, the company is currently working on two passenger rail contracts in the Indian cities of Kolkata and Chennai for fees totaling $50 million. It has also bagged a $17.6 million contract a week back to plan and design India's Hyderabad Metro Rail project -- and this is just the first phase of the public-private partnership. Clearly, the momentum is gaining. Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC) is another key infrastructure player with 40,000 employees worldwide that provides diverse technical services such as infrastructure, construction, engineering, and project management. This $6.42 billion company is already working on a $650 million project for Indian Oil Corp. in Chennai. These are primary companies to consider when considering the type of budget that was released yesterday.
Indian ports are also a key target of investment. Marine construction is a huge part of development as India's export-import relies mainly on the development of these ports. Companies such as Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. that have expertise in marine construction with dredging and commercial and industrial demolition operations should get special consideration during the next few years. GLDD already has experience working off India's west coast. These companies support the construction of breakwaters, jetties, canals, and other marine structures. India is way behind in these particular necessities, and if the country plans to expand its export figures, these areas and more will be key areas of development.
The Foolish bottom line
The dreams of a richer India are slowly taking shape as opportunities start flowing and luxuries start to become realities. The recently released budget is a massive part of that equation as it will greatly structure the flow of investment dollars in the coming years. Pay close attention. We'll have more on India's budget and its ramifications in coming days.
